The lounge lizard caught up in all the martini was lost in the forest of athletes and streetwear, with a soulful side that found himself wandering late. Contrary to the background of grey silk and vodka on Wednesday night in Paris, Haider Ackerman made his debut as Tom Ford's creative director, serving as the recipe for Return of the Form. Not dry; stir without shaking.
Rather than the 1970s disco mirrors that once characterised Ford's own show, guests were crushed around rooms lined up at low-haired banquets with sparkling glow surrounded by mirror-like walls. A suffering mirror. The black waiter put the silver tray heavy with cut crystal lowball glasses. And there was Mr. Ford, who sold his company in 2022, wearing all the blacks between Jared Leto and Anna Winzer and all the blacks, waiting to see if his second hand picked successor was the right person to take over his name. (The first, his longtime vice-in-law, Peter Hawking, lasted only a year. There was no pressure.)
It felt like a private club without a name. Where you knew, if you knew. Although you didn't really know what would happen next.
Then came the black leather.
Leather pants and leather motorcycle jacket. Leather shirt and leather tie. Leather gloves and tailored leather car coat, all for both men and women. There was a lot of leather, but I couldn't see the leather jock straps or thongs. This may seem like a random point (why do you need a leather jock strap?). But if you want to know the difference between Mr. Ford's Tom Ford and Mr. Ackerman's Tom Ford, it sums it up. Ford loved the logo jock strap. The implicit proposition of skin skin that was the basis of Mr. Ford's brand was there, but in a more modest way.
And it continued faithfully – Ackerman proved he understood the brand's vocabulary. There was nothing too tight or tight. That doesn't mean it was casual. Many models, like Ford himself, wore black shades.
The brushed wool white trousers, which had the feel of sweatpants, slid low under the matching white wool jacket, raised collars and draped sideways. The long bias cut silk skirt slid down one hip just to prevent it from slipping completely by the thinnest belt, like loose black tie pants. There were many suits, especially for men. Some of them appear to be directly touched by Ford himself, who had experienced a double era in the early days of his brand. Certainly, in contrast to late stage torts, many of Ackermann's brand references seemed like throwbacks to early Ford. Ford never wore pants this relaxed.
That was impressive. It has been a while since I saw a man with a proper suit and tie warped on the runway, but when it suddenly turned to color, they were dreamers in lesser last century. Bright amethyst pants for men paired with black overcoats, or with matching ivory shirts and ties, or with a green suit from Celadon.
Occasionally, I thrust white flowers into my chest pocket or secured them in a square shape. Sometimes a thin Thai silk scarf was tied around the neck. Finally, the tweed had little glow. It was a very poet dandy, especially a series of smooth tuxedos look, and it went back a bit.
In a previous interview, Ackerman said he wanted his clothes to look rich. He asked them to be ordered attention, but most of them did so without yelling. If they lack some of the emotional longings that always seem to be woven into the fabrics of Mr. Ackerman's previous works by their own name, if they appear to have a cooler, more literally buttoned-up sense of their own charm, then it was in line with Mr. Ford's legacy. And the finale combines the silver knit dress, mimicking the crocodile, with a jacket look, with a scale that just slightly raised.
Add a twist. And next time, maybe Negroni or Mint jellyp.
Meanwhile, at the Opera House…
Under the careful eyes of the founder, the challenging balance of redesigning a brand, even if the founder was no longer involved in the business, was also a challenge for Julian Klausner of Dries Van Noten. Klausner had the advantage of working with Van Noten (who was in the audience) for six years. It was probably at school.
He presented a fusion of Thai silk, brocade and menswear wool in his debut collection. There was a large leather corset belt and tight leggings-like pants. A coat covered in bags, shoes, and even silk fringe leaves. Checkered plaid mixed with Paillettes. Also, some great curtain tassel night look. In these, Krausner got a combination of materials and references that were Van Norton's trademarks, but he replicated the combinations (and drapes, gatherings, and sometimes brawls).
The end result missed the restraint, the source of tension between extreme fantasies and extreme ease of use, which often transcends Van Noten's clothing. Now that Klausner has acquired all the decorations from his system, he may be able to start cutting out the extras to see what happens. That would be a real second act.
